The author states himself that lax record keeping from the period makes the study less than reliable.
Additionally this is only targeted at the union, the same thing happened with the south. If you read the whole article it actually supports my position. The numbers aren't what we were arguing, we were arguing about whether or not it happened, it did, he shows it did. > -----Original Message----- > From: Larry Lyons [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Monday, November 10, 2008 1:57 PM > To: cf-community > Subject: Re: Thoughts on national service > > >http://www.civilwarhome.com/conscription.htm > > > > The article did not say much at all about drafting immigrants > off the boat as was claimed. The best I could find was this article: > http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-6160483/Which-poor-man > -s-fight.html > > And there was no mention of people straight off the boat > being drafted. The best the authors could find was that some > recent immigrants were drafted, and then at a far lower rate > than any other group in either the Federal or Confederate states. > > Here's a quote: > The pattern that emerges from this data is unmistakable: > immigrants were not disproportionately forced into the army > as a result of the draft. In most instances, in fact, > immigrants were underrepresented in the ranks of those held > to service. From Maine and New Hampshire to Ohio and > Illinois, immigrants in the nation's major and mid-size > cities were almost always less likely than natives to serve > in the army as a result of the draft. The Irish, the most > economically disadvantaged of the major immigrant groups of > the period, are especially underrepresented, but other > immigrant groups are lacking in the ranks of the conscripted > as well, though in a few places in 1864 Germans entered the > army as a result of the draft at a higher rate than either > the Irish or the native-born. If one considers all those > forced to contribute to the war effort as a result of the > draft, by combining those forced to serve with those who > hired substitutes or paid the commutation fee, then > immigrants lag even further behind natives in their > contributions. This study indicates that one group does > appear to have been disproportionately forced into service as > a result of the draft--native-born laborers, especially those > residing in rural areas. Their outsized contribution to the > Union cause has not previously been adequately recognized. > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;207172674;29440083;f Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:279708 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
